Connecticut Has Not Agreed To Reported Purdue Settlement

Connecticut’s attorney general says the state has not agreed to any settlement with Stamford-based drug maker Purdue Pharma. The Associated Press is reporting Wednesday that Purdue, the maker of controversial painkiller Oxycontin, has settled with about half of the states that are currently suing it over its role in the opioid overdose crisis.

The settlement is reported to see Purdue paying around $12 billion to settle the suits, with its owners, the Sackler family, giving up control of the company.

But in a statement issued to Connecticut Public Radio, Connecticut Attorney General Wiliam Tong said he is not part of that agreement.

“Connecticut has not agreed to any settlement," Tong said in the statement. "Our position remains firm and unchanged and nothing for us has changed today. The scope and scale of the pain, death and destruction that Purdue and the Sacklers have caused far exceeds anything that has been offered thus far. Connecticut's focus is on the victims and their families, and holding Purdue and the Sacklers accountable for the crisis they have caused.

"I cannot predict whether Purdue will seek bankruptcy," he goes on, "but all I can say is we are ready to aggressively pursue this case wherever it goes—whether it is in the Connecticut courts or through bankruptcy."

Related Content

The family that owns Purdue Pharma, maker of Oxycontin, has agreed to give up "the entire value" of the privately owned firm to settle claims that Purdue played a central role in the nation's deadly opioid epidemic.

That's according to a spokesperson for the firm, who detailed the Sackler family's offer in an email sent to NPR on Monday.

"Additionally, the Sacklers have offered $3 billion in cash as part of the global resolution," wrote Josephine Martin, Purdue Pharma's head of corporate affairs and communications.

The maker of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, and its owners, the Sackler family, are offering to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits against the company for $10 billion to $12 billion, according to several reports.